How to Play Jinx

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Jinx is a common playground game, beginning when two people say the same thing at the same time. You probably played it when you were a kid, though you may not have known some of the variations included below. Jinx is also a board game similar to tic-tac-toe. Whichever one you want to play, you'll find more information below.

Know the basics. Jinx happens when two people say the same word or phrase at the same time. For instance, if you and a friend say "Woah" or "That's awesome!" at the same time, it would be considered a jinx.[1]

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Know what happens during the game. If you say "jinx," the other person is not allowed to talk for the rest of the game. If the other person says "jinx" first, you are not allowed to talk for the rest of the game.[3]

Trick a person into jinx. You can trick a person into jinx by asking a simple question. For instance, if you say "What's 2 plus 2?," the other person will mostly likely say "4." In that case, you can say "4" at the same time, then immediately say "jinx" to start the game.

Understand the "American jinx" variation. In one variation, when you say the same phrase, you can say "American jinx, touch wood" instead of just "jinx." You play the game the same way with one exception: the first person to touch a piece of wood gets to punch the other person.

Try double jinx. If you both say "jinx" at the same time, you can say "double jinx" to initiate the game. In that case, you need to say the person's full name to end the game. If it happens again when you say "double jinx," it turns into "padlock jinx," where you need to include the person's middle names to end the game.

Roll the dice to begin the game. The first player rolls both dice. The dice determine where you play. The numbers for the white die are along one side of the board while the numbers for the black die are along the other side. Match up the numbers to determine your space.[7]

Know the mix-ups. If you roll the same place twice, that's called a jinx, and it means you remove all your pieces from the board. If you roll another player's space, you can remove his piece and put yours down instead.[9]

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wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 14 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. Together, they cited 11 references. This article has also been viewed 71,125 times.